{"id":9992,"date":"2026-09-09T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/?page_id=9992"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:13:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:13:57","slug":"hart-trophy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/nhl\/awards-odds\/hart-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Hart Trophy odds 2027: the NHL MVP market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hart Trophy odds are the headline individual market in hockey, and the 2026 vote is the cleanest lesson in how it works. Connor McDavid won the scoring title with 138 points. Nathan MacKinnon led the league in goals on its best team. Nikita Kucherov won the Hart. The award goes to the player judged most valuable to his team, which is not the same thing as the best player or the top scorer, and that gap is where the betting value sits. This page carries the opening 2026-27 board, ten years of winners with the odds they opened at, how the voting works and what the writers actually reward. Our awards hub<\/a> covers the other trophies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detail<\/th>Value<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Award<\/strong><\/td>Most valuable player (Hart Memorial Trophy)<\/td><\/tr>
Voted by<\/strong><\/td>Professional Hockey Writers Association, end of the regular season<\/td><\/tr>
2026 winner<\/strong><\/td>Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), his second<\/td><\/tr>
2026 finalists<\/strong><\/td>Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado), Connor McDavid (Edmonton)<\/td><\/tr>
Market status<\/strong><\/td>Open all season. The board below is the opening one, from July<\/td><\/tr>
Opening favourite (29 July 2026)<\/strong><\/td>Connor McDavid, +250 at Bet99<\/td><\/tr>
Most wins<\/strong><\/td>Wayne Gretzky, nine<\/td><\/tr>
Most wins, players active last season<\/strong><\/td>Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin, three each<\/td><\/tr>
Last repeat winner<\/strong><\/td>Alex Ovechkin, 2008 and 2009<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hart Trophy odds 2026-27: the NHL MVP odds board<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the opening board: prices from Bet99, taken on 29 July 2026, two months before the season started. MVP futures move with the scoring race from October, so these will have moved since; read them as the opening shape of the market and check the live price with your sportsbook before you bet. For the race itself, our NHL scoring leaders<\/a> page tracks the points and goals leaders, updated daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Player<\/th>Team<\/th>Odds<\/th>Why he is on the board<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Connor McDavid<\/strong><\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>+250<\/td>Three Harts; 138 points and the 2026 Art Ross<\/td><\/tr>
Nathan MacKinnon<\/strong><\/td>Colorado Avalanche<\/td>+350<\/td>2024 winner; led the league with 53 goals in 2025-26<\/td><\/tr>
Macklin Celebrini<\/strong><\/td>San Jose Sharks<\/td>+640<\/td>115 points at 20, a Sharks franchise record<\/td><\/tr>
Leon Draisaitl<\/strong><\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>+900<\/td>2020 winner; 97 points in 65 games<\/td><\/tr>
David Pastrnak<\/strong><\/td>Boston Bruins<\/td>+1200<\/td>100 points<\/td><\/tr>
Nikita Kucherov<\/strong><\/td>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/td>+1200<\/td>Defending winner; 130 points in 76 games<\/td><\/tr>
Kirill Kaprizov<\/strong><\/td>Minnesota Wild<\/td>+1400<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Auston Matthews<\/strong><\/td>Toronto Maple Leafs<\/td>+1500<\/td>2022 winner<\/td><\/tr>
Jack Hughes<\/strong><\/td>New Jersey Devils<\/td>+2250<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Cale Makar<\/strong><\/td>Colorado Avalanche<\/td>+2500<\/td>No defenceman has won since 2000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prices from Bet99, 29 July 2026. American odds; a +350 price returns $350 in profit on a $100 stake if it wins. NHL Hart Trophy odds are offered by the private sportsbooks licensed in Ontario and Alberta, and on a narrower basis by the provincial lottery operators elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hart race as it stands<\/h2>\n\n\n

Live section, rebuilt 22 October 2026.<\/strong> The prices higher up this page are the opening market and carry their own date.<\/p>\n\n\n

Voting closes at the end of the regular season. The board above is a long way from settled. This is the scoring race as it stands, which is where the Hart conversation starts.<\/p>\n\n\n

Player<\/th>Club<\/th>Pos<\/th>GP<\/th>G<\/th>A<\/th>Pts<\/th>+\/-<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Connor McDavid<\/strong><\/td>EDM<\/td>C<\/td>9<\/td>6<\/td>20<\/td>26<\/strong><\/td>+17<\/td><\/tr>
Jack Eichel<\/strong><\/td>VGK<\/td>C<\/td>11<\/td>5<\/td>13<\/td>18<\/strong><\/td>+8<\/td><\/tr>
Auston Matthews<\/strong><\/td>TOR<\/td>C<\/td>11<\/td>8<\/td>10<\/td>18<\/strong><\/td>+5<\/td><\/tr>
Evan Bouchard<\/strong><\/td>EDM<\/td>D<\/td>9<\/td>7<\/td>11<\/td>18<\/strong><\/td>+16<\/td><\/tr>
Kirill Kaprizov<\/strong><\/td>MIN<\/td>L<\/td>10<\/td>11<\/td>6<\/td>17<\/strong><\/td>+8<\/td><\/tr>
Nathan MacKinnon<\/strong><\/td>COL<\/td>C<\/td>10<\/td>6<\/td>10<\/td>16<\/strong><\/td>+0<\/td><\/tr>
Leon Draisaitl<\/strong><\/td>EDM<\/td>C<\/td>9<\/td>8<\/td>8<\/td>16<\/strong><\/td>+13<\/td><\/tr>
Mark Stone<\/strong><\/td>VGK<\/td>R<\/td>11<\/td>8<\/td>7<\/td>15<\/strong><\/td>+9<\/td><\/tr>
William Nylander<\/strong><\/td>TOR<\/td>R<\/td>11<\/td>6<\/td>9<\/td>15<\/strong><\/td>-2<\/td><\/tr>
Matthew Tkachuk<\/strong><\/td>FLA<\/td>L<\/td>10<\/td>3<\/td>12<\/td>15<\/strong><\/td>+3<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\n\n\n

Connor McDavid leads on 26 points from 9 games. That is 8 clear of Jack Eichel. Leads this early rest on small samples. They rarely survive to April untouched.<\/p>\n\n\n

The Hart goes to the most valuable player, not the top scorer. A goaltender or a defenceman on a weak club has a case no points table shows. Read the hart trophy odds above with that in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n

Odds movement: what the opening board says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

McDavid is favourite, as he has been every summer for a decade, and the case for him is the same as ever: the best player in the world, coming off a scoring title he won by eight points. The case against him is in the standings. Edmonton finished 14th in the league last season and the voters did not reward 138 points on a team that barely made the playoffs. MacKinnon at +350 has the opposite profile, a 53-goal season on the club that finished first overall, and he did not win either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrini at +640 is the new name. He scored 115 points at 20 for a San Jose team that finished 24th, and the market is pricing what happens if the Sharks make the playoffs. Kucherov at +1200 is the defending winner priced as a longshot, which is where defending winners belong in this market: nobody has repeated since Ovechkin in 2009. Auston Matthews at +1500 is the only Canadian-club player inside +2000 on this board, and Toronto finished 28th, so his price is about the player rather than the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten years of Hart Trophy winners and their opening odds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Opening prices are the pre-season numbers each winner was available at, as recorded by odds-history archives. Taylor Hall’s 2018 Hart Trophy with New Jersey came with no recorded pre-season price at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Season<\/th>Winner<\/th>Team<\/th>Position<\/th>Opening odds<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2025-26<\/strong><\/td>Nikita Kucherov<\/td>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/td>Right wing<\/td>+700<\/td><\/tr>
2024-25<\/strong><\/td>Connor Hellebuyck<\/td>Winnipeg Jets<\/td>Goaltender<\/td>+15000<\/td><\/tr>
2023-24<\/strong><\/td>Nathan MacKinnon<\/td>Colorado Avalanche<\/td>Centre<\/td>+1000<\/td><\/tr>
2022-23<\/strong><\/td>Connor McDavid<\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>Centre<\/td>+300<\/td><\/tr>
2021-22<\/strong><\/td>Auston Matthews<\/td>Toronto Maple Leafs<\/td>Centre<\/td>+900<\/td><\/tr>
2020-21<\/strong><\/td>Connor McDavid<\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>Centre<\/td>+600<\/td><\/tr>
2019-20<\/strong><\/td>Leon Draisaitl<\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>Centre<\/td>+4000<\/td><\/tr>
2018-19<\/strong><\/td>Nikita Kucherov<\/td>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/td>Right wing<\/td>+1500<\/td><\/tr>
2017-18<\/strong><\/td>Taylor Hall<\/td>New Jersey Devils<\/td>Left wing<\/td>not recorded<\/td><\/tr>
2016-17<\/strong><\/td>Connor McDavid<\/td>Edmonton Oilers<\/td>Centre<\/td>+600<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two patterns matter. First, the trophy is concentrated: McDavid and Kucherov have won five of the last ten between them, so the shortlist really is short. Second, the price is not. One winner in ten opened as the favourite, McDavid at +300 in 2023. Four of the other nine were available at +900 or longer in September, including Hellebuyck at +15000, the longest recorded winner in the award’s history, and Draisaitl at +4000. Back a short list at long prices rather than one name at +250.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 vote: three cases, one winner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 Hart Trophy finalists were the same three players as in 2024, and each made a different argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n